(Not applicable.)
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a firearm storage device with an alarm that prevents the unauthorized removal of the firearm while allowing the owner quick access to the firearm.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
As recent national headlines bear witness, American society pays a high price for poorly secured guns. Representatives of religious, civic, government, law enforcement and community organizations throughout the U.S. have stood up publicly to press for passage of gun-control laws in an effort to keep guns out of the hands of those not legally permitted to carry them, including new penalties on gun owners responsible for leaving guns accessible to children who use them to commit violent acts.
On Nov. 1, 1999, CNN reported that a study conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics found that many parents who own guns keep them loaded or unlocked at home and substantially underestimate the risk of injury to their children. Researchers determined that an alarming number of families keep both pistols and rifles where young family members could find them. Furthermore, the majority of those studied kept at least one of these firearms, usually a handgun, either unlocked or loaded, and a significant proportion of them kept them both unlocked and loaded. Last year 500 children died and 25,000 were injured in what doctors called xe2x80x9cpreventablexe2x80x9d accidents.
Furthermore, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry provides some alarming statistics. Every day, 10 American children ages 18 and under are killed in handgun suicide, homicides and accidents, and many more are wounded. An estimated 400,000 youngsters carried handguns to school in 1987. Since at least 25 million American households keep handguns and 50% of all owners keep them loaded, it is highly likely that a youngster with a firearm obtained it from their own home without being detected by their parents.
Children and adolescents are inherently playful, active, curious and impulsive. Such healthy traits when mixed with guns can cause death. The proximity of juveniles notwithstanding, the undeniable danger associated with gun possession should concern all gun owners and compel them to secure their firearms. Furthermore, gun owners may be held legally liable for the consequences of their failure to institute protective measures.
Firearms are typically stored in locked cabinets or cases for safety purposes. However, collectors and dealers have a need to display their firearms in an openly viewable and appealing manner, such as on a stand. This presents a dilemma for collectors and dealers who wish to display their firearms, especially handguns, at exhibitions or trade shows in a less restrictive manner. They are typically restricted to either using a locked enclosure or displaying the handgun relatively unsecured. The former method is inconvenient and burdensome. The latter method is convenient but unsafe.
Alternatively, quick access is required where a firearm, especially a handgun, is kept for protective purposes. If a locked case is used to store the gun, time may be lost in unlocking the case and removing the gun, which could negate the protective advantage of possessing a firearm in the first place. In all situations where firearms are stored, it is desirable to provide an alarm to indicate that the gun has been moved by an unauthorized person or a child.
Furthermore, ease of operation is of great significance, since a device that provides adequate security and accessibility at the price of excessive inconvenience discourages people from using it. The dangerous consequences of an unauthorized use of a firearm necessitates that any device designed to provide for its accessibility and security be simple to engage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,155,608 issued to Orlewicz discloses a wall-mountable gun cabinet having a hinged door, the face of which is disguised as a decorative wall article. A lockable inner door provides some additional measure of security.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,021 issued to Ferraro discloses a case or safe with an electronic lock having a touch pad on which a code must be entered to gain access to the gun. An alarm sounds if the safe is removed from the surface on which it is mounted.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,838 issued to Cislo discloses a lockbox for handguns that is lockably attached to a bedframe. Access is gained by entering a code with a touchpad provided on the box.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,196,827 issued to Allen, et al. discloses a handgun display device having a flat upper plate for placing a handgun on and a lower base plate with force sensors embedded in between. Two variable resistors must be adjusted to set an upper and lower force threshold, and an alarm is triggered when the upper and lower force thresholds are breached.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,088 issued to Pierson discloses a portable alarm system for use in museums having spring-loaded plungers protruding out from two regions of a flat base member. The bottom plunger is depressed by the stand or table on which the base sits and the top plunger is depressed by the art work placed upon it. The two plungers are connected to switches that activate a tamper alarm if either plunger extends to full protrusion when the alarm is armed.
Despite these and other related attempts at balancing firearm security and accessibility, there remains a need for a complete, reliable and simple resolution to the problems of the inconvenient gun access and insecure open gun display. Furthermore, these and other related devices present no adequate solution to the problem of securely displaying or storing a gun in a reliable and uncomplicated device, while allowing it to be accessed easily and quickly by authorized persons. In many situations where guns are displayed, high-security enclosures are unnecessary. A security device that functions independently and allows the owner the option of adding additional security measures, when circumstances require such, is highly desirable. These unresolved problems and deficiencies are clearly felt in the art and are solved by present invention in the manner described below.
The present invention solves the problem of creating a convenient and uncomplicated device for securing against the unauthorized removal of a firearm without limiting the accessibility of the firearm to its owner. It is also well-suited for protecting the firearm while on display, or in combination with any suitable enclosure, such as a locked case, drawer, or box.
The invention comprises a support member having a recessed volume, molded and contoured to the general shape of a firearm, and an alarm that activates if the firearm is removed from the recessed volume. The alarm may be initialized by an attached or remote actuator. In preferred embodiments, the alarm is initiated by placing the firearm on an actuator located in the recessed volume itself. The alarm may be audible or made to send a signal to a remote location or device, such as a pager, telephone, or alert a home security force.
In preferred embodiments, an indicator lamp illuminates if the alarm is activated and remains lit until a de-activator is triggered. The alarm may be cut short and reset by way of an electronic timer, to alert the owner to any unauthorized removal of the gun. In preferred embodiments, the de-activator for the alarm and indicator lamp, which is preferably the device reset/on-off switch, is concealed.
The de-activator may be concealed in many ways, inside or outside the support member. In alternative embodiments, the de-activator may be triggered by remote transmitter. The purpose in concealing the switch is to require special knowledge of its whereabouts and a special tool to gain access it. This can be accomplished in a variety of uncomplicated yet extremely effective ways. The de-activator switch may be concealed at the end of a thin tube extending within the support member, thus restricting its access to pin-like objects only. Alternatively, the entryway to the switch can be shaped to limit its accessibility to a specially-shaped key. Preferably, the de-activator switch comprises a reed switch which is concealed within the support member. The switch is actuated when a magnet is placed in close proximity.
Using the recessed volume helps make the device less likely to cause false alarms, and the generic mold can accommodate a wide variety of firearms. The recessed volume conforms to the general shape of a gun, that is, the recessed volume can be deep or shallow, curved or angular, depending on the width and shape of the part of the gun that would normally rest there. For example, if the device was to be used for handguns with revolving barrels, the recessed volume would be deepest at the point where the barrel would rest, shallow at the shaft, and somewhere in between for the handgrip. Since most firearms of the same type or caliber have the same basic shape, a generic recessed volume would satisfactorily accommodate most firearms of a particular type or caliber. For instance, a recessed volume molded for revolvers should accommodate most revolvers while a recessed volume molded for semi-automatic handguns should accommodate most semi-automatic handguns. However, other embodiments of the inventive device include recessed volumes molded to fit only a portion of the gun, or having a recessed volume molded to suit the characteristics of a particular make or model of gun. In addition, the recessed volume may accommodate more than one firearm.
The invention also provides a gun owner with quick access to the firearm. This is highly important if the firearm is to be kept in the home for protective purposes. An alternate embodiment of the inventive device provides even greater accessibility. In this embodiment, an aperture is added to the recessed volume that would allow the gun owner to quickly slip his or her hand around the handgrip of the handgun to enable the owner to bring the handgun to a ready position quicker in case of an emergency. In this capacity, the gun owner may want to deactivate the device while at home, and then activate it upon leaving the premises.
An alternative embodiment of the inventive device comprises a recessed volume molded to fit the entire gun excluding the handgrip, thus leaving the handgrip exposed for even quicker access. In this embodiment, the actuator could be manually triggered or located in the recessed area where the barrel of the gun would rest. Optimizing the location of components and mold of the recessed area, for purposes such as gaining quicker access to the firearm, is contemplated as being within the scope of the invention.
The device may be battery-powered, in which case a low battery indicator light may be added to the support member. The support member may be made from plastic or metal, while the recessed area may also be plastic or metal but may be covered with a felt, rubber or fabric.
An alternative embodiment of the present invention includes a covering for the device. The cover may be made of plastic, or other suitable material, and partially attached, hinged or completely removable from the device. Preferably, the inventive device further comprises an opaque cover that conceals the identity of the contents of the inventive device, and a switch set to trigger the alarm or other alert when the cover is opened. The switch may be a magnetic switch but preferably, the switch is a proximity switch, such as a reed switch and magnet combination. When the cover is removed without deactivating the device, the magnet and reed switch are separated and the reed switch""s contacts close, which triggers the alarm. The cover and support member can also be made so that the cover fits in a groove or snap-fits onto the support member.
This system serves to further discourage unauthorized use of a firearm prior to any physical disturbance of the firearm itself, and in particular, to further discourage a child from picking up the firearm. The alarm may be initialized by closing the cover and deactivated by a remote or attached actuator, or by any other means as discussed herein and known to those skilled in the art as being in accordance with the present invention.